A number of arrangements have been proposed to allow transport of, and ready access to, a volume of fluid by providing a reservoir which may be mounted on a user's head and means for dispensing fluid from said reservoir.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,244 issued to John D. Geddie on Jul. 21, 1987 provides for a portable mix bar comprising a hard hat having a plurality of drink containers and a pair of mixing chambers for mixing drinks mounted thereon, wherein a flow of drinks to and from the mixing chambers is controlled by a plurality of tubes for carrying drinks from the drink containers to the valves and mixing chambers and between valves and mixing chambers and from the mixing chambers to the mouth of a user. Each of said tubes is adapted to serve as a suction tube for sucking liquid to achieve movement of fluid.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,950 issued to Dave K. Hosaka on Sep. 22, 1992, provides a helmet and fluid reservoir apparatus, comprising: (a) a helmet shell, the helmet shell including a lower continuous edge, and the helmet shell further including a forward shell opening directed through the helmet shell, and a fibrous liner mounted within the helmet shell at least between the shell opening and the lower edge, and (b) a flexible fluid reservoir pouch mounted to the fibrous liner between the lower edge and the forward shell opening, the flexible reservoir pouch including a right flexible fluid container and a left fluid flexible container longitudinally aligned relative to one another and hingedly mounted relative to one another about a central conduit, (c) the right fluid container and the left fluid container each including a respective right and left first hook and loop fastener patch for securement to the fibrous liner and (d) the central conduit including an "L" shaped drinking conduit projecting above the central conduit in fluid communication with the central conduit, the central conduit in fluid communication with the right and left fluid cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,006 issued to Tianhou Li on Aug. 23, 1994, provides a head-supported drink holder apparatus for supporting a beverage receptacle at a selected position generally horizontal distance from a user's mouth; wherein, the apparatus comprises: (a) a pair of head engaging support units where each support unit comprises a support member having a generally right L-shaped lower portion, including a leg element and a foot element, wherein each foot element is provided with an elongated aperture provided with a plurality of recesses; (b) strap means for securing the support members of the user's head; and (c) a beverage receptacle holder unit including an inner ring element dimensioned to receive a beverage receptacle and having a first axle element and an outer ring element dimensioned to receive said first axle element of the inner ring element and provided with a second axle element disposed generally perpendicular to said first axle elements, wherein said second axle element is dimensioned to be received in opposed recesses in said support members.
The known fluid dispensing means providing a reservoir which may be mounted on a user's head require that the user create suction with his/her mouth in order to dispense fluid through a suction tube. The improved beverage dispensing device disclosed herein provides structure for a downward flow of a fluid from an elevated reservoir associated with a helmet structure and an outlet tube for ingesting the fluid in a user's mouth. The use of gravitational force rather than user-generated suction to dispense liquid from such a head-supported dispensing device permits a continuous volume of liquid to be dispensed than would be possible using suction generated by a user.
Also, in the case of a user who is short of breath due to having engaged in physical activity, for example, generating suction sufficient to dispense the desired volume of liquid may not only be cumbersome but would negatively affect blood oxygenation and therefore physical performance.
Alternatives to the structure disclosed herein which achieve the benefit of dispensing significant volumes of liquid at a relatively fast or continuous rate but without the need for user-generated suction might include structures providing a pumping means to pump liquid from a reservoir to a user's mouth or means for pressurizing a liquid so as to permit liquid to be dispensed once a valve is engaged. Such structures, however, would be by nature more complicated and more expensive to produce than the device disclosed herein.
The invention disclosed herein therefore provides means for a fluid dispensing device to be supported by a user's head which dispenses significant volumes of liquid which is easy to use and inexpensive to produce.